SINGAPORE: Gold dipped for a second session on Wednesday as global equities and the dollar rose after strong US manufacturing data that rekindled speculation of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold XAU= slipped 0.2 percent to $1,230 an ounce by 0053 GMT, after dropping 0.5 percent in the previous session.

* Upbeat US manufacturing data and another jump in oil prices on Tuesday pushed a leading stocks gauge, MSCI's global gauge of equity markets .MIWD00000PUS, to its highest in nearly two months.

* Data on Tuesday showed US manufacturing appeared to stabilize in February, with production accelerating and new orders holding steady at higher levels. The economic outlook was further bolstered by another report on construction spending that scaled a more than eight-year high in January.

* The US dollar rebounded against the yen and hit one-month highs against the euro on Tuesday. [USD/]

* Gold has gained 16 percent so far this year as turmoil in equity markets and concerns over the global economy triggered speculation that the Fed will not raise US interest rates any further this year. The US central bank hiked rates for the first time in nearly a decade in December.

* Investors will be watching more US data to gauge the strength of the economy, with the most important one being US nonfarm payrolls on Friday.

* For now, gold was seeing support from flows into bullion-backed exchange traded funds (ETF).

* Assets in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world's top gold ETF, rose 1.15 percent to 786.20 tonnes on Tuesday, the highest since September 2014.

* In physical markets, India's gold imports in January surged 62 percent compared with the same period last year, news agency NewsRise Financial reported on Tuesday citing a government official.

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MARKET NEWS

* The yen nursed broad losses early in Asia on Wednesday, having suffered a big reversal overnight as traders in London and New York took a brighter view on the global economy and dumped the safe-haven Japanese currency.

* Asian shares look set to test February highs on Wednesday.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)

1000 Euro zone Producer prices Jan

1315 U.S. ADP national employment Feb

1445 U.S. ISM-New York index Feb